Snap fastener socket



March 5, 1963 s. T. SHI-:ARS ETAL 3,079,658

SNAP FASTENER SOCKET Filed Nov. 23, 1960 Suaz Y. Shears Da/glas .7. Broughoz/v,

y @M VQQQMMB f ilnited tates Patent 3,079,553 SNAP FASTENER SCKET Stuart T. Shears, Beimont, and Douglas J. Broughton,

Springfield, Mass., assignors to United-Carr Fastener Corporation, Cambridge, Mass., a corporation of Deiaware Filed Nov. 23, 1963, Ser. No. 71,299 2 Claims. (Cl. 24216) 'This invention relates to a closure fastener and more specificallyl to a self-guiding socket assembly.

One of the basic problems or' snap fastener assemblies used as a closure in pass cases, wallets, purses and the like is the diculty of snapping the stud into the socket. In many cases two or three efforts are necessary for the stud head to properly locate the socket aperture. The styling requirements necessitate that the socket should be of a simple, thin construction.

An object of the invention is to provide a thin socket member having a guide disk for ease of location an engagement with a stud.

A further object of the applicants invention is to provide a two-piece socket assembly with the guide disk on one side of a support and the socket on the other side.

A still further object of the applicants invention is to provide a socket assembly wherein the support piercing prongs of the guide disk engage the inner surface of a hook shaped or U-shaped prong engaging portion.

ther objects of the invention will, in part, be obvious, and will, in part, appear hereinafter.

In the drawing:

FIG. 1 is a top plan view of a two-piece socket assembled on a support;

PEG. 2 is a section taken on line 2 2 of FlG. 2;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view of a stud assembled on la support;

FIG. 4 is a view of a stud engaged with the applicants socket assembly having the stud in side elevation and the socket in section;

FG. 5 is a bottom plan view of the cap element;

FG. 6 is a side elevation of the cap element; and

FiG. 7 is a top plan view of the socket member.

Referring to the drawing, there is illustrated a snap fastener socket assembly comprising a cap element 10 and asocket member 12. The said socket member 12 cornprises an open ended tubular resilient stud receiving barrel 14 having a lip 15 adjacent one of said ends inclined slightly inward around its periphery and the opposite end integral with a prong engaging portion. The said prong engaging portion has a connecting portion 16 integral with said stud receiving barrel '14, and inclined away from the axis of said stud receiving barrel 14 toward the plane of said lip 15. The said connecting portion 16 circumscribes, in varying spaced relation, the major portion ol' said stud receiving barrel 14. The free peripheral edge of said connecting portion 16 is bent to form a hook or U-shaped prong engaging portion 13 having an opening on substantially the sarne plane as said lip 15.

The said cap element 10 comprises a circular guide disk 2i. having an inner wall 22 defining an axial opening 24. The said guide disk 20 is inclined from its circumferential edge 26 to said inner wall 22 to form a shallow dish-like configuration. A series of wedge shaped piercing prongs 2S are preferably formed integral with and extending from the circumferential edge 26 of the guide disk 20 as shown in FIG. 6. The said circumferential edge 26 may be bent at right angles to the remaining portion to better engage a support 30 and to prevent puckering of the support 3d. The said support 3% has an edge 32 deiining an aperature and is formed of leather, cloth, plastic or other substantially flexible material.

The engagement of the socket assembly with said support 3) may be accomplished by passing said lip 15 into the aperture surrounded by said engaging edge 32 so that the plane of the said lip "15 lies adjacent to or on the same line as the upper surface of said support 30. This also places the U-shaped prong engaging portion 18, at its periphery, in abutting relationship with the lower surface of the support 30 and the bend formed by the connection of said connecting portion 16 and said prong engaging portion 1S also abuts the undersurface of said support 30. Said piercing prongs 28 of said cap element 10 are passed through the material of said support 36 in such a manner as to provide the axis of the stud receiving barrel 14, the axis of the aperture formed by the engaging edge 32 of said support 30 and the axis of the opening 24 formed by said inner wall 22 of said guide disk 2li on the same line; and the opening formed by said prong engaging portion 1S lies in close proximity to the piercing prongs 28 after they have Vpassed through the said support 30. The said piercing prongs 28 are passed into the U or hook formation of the prong engaging portions 18 in such a manner as to curl the prong into a general configuration conforming to the said prong engaging portion 18. The prongs 28 and prong engaging portion may be reversed if desired as to the disk 14) and the socket 12.

After the engagement of the socket assembly with the support Si), the disk or guide portion 10 lies on one side of said support 36 and the said socket member 12 lies on the opposite side of said support 30. The support piercing prongs 2S are carried by the cap element 10 and the stud receiving barrel 14 is passed from one side of the said support 30 to the other for securing a snap fastener stud through the opening 24.

Many old fasteners using the principle of a dished shaped guide portion required the use of rather complex attaching units having at least three elements and in some cases more. The applicants have shown, in FIGS. 3 and 4, one type of snap fastener stud 34 which may be used to engage their socket assembly.

Anyone familiar with the art will appreciate that this type of socket may be used for a closure assembly in wallets, pass cases or in fact, almost all constructions where a thin self-guiding fastener socket is convenient. It will be noted that the stud receiving barrel 14 may be slitted along a portion of its length, increasing its resiliency in order to facilitate its engagement with a stud of the usual form.

Since certain other obvious modifications may be rnade in this device without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matters contained herein be interpreted in an illustrative and not in a limiting sense.

We claim:

l. A fastener socket and a support, said socket cornprising a one piece cap element and a one piece socket member secured to opposite sides of the support, said one piece cap element having a dished portion, said dished portion having a terminal edge directed toward the axis of said fastener and surrounding an aperture therethrough and having a series of prongs integral with its periphery and extending therefrom through the support, said one piece socket member having a prong receiving and holding means co-operating with said prongs and said one piece socket member having a yieldable stud receiving barrel open at both ends, said support having an inner wall defining an aperture therethrough, and said one piece cap element, said one piece socket member, and said inner wall of said support having coincident axes.

2. A closure fastener socket assembly comprising a support, a closure fastener yieldable one-piece socket member assembled on one side of said support and onepiece stud guide cap element assembled on the opposite side of said support, said stud guide cap element having a dis'hed base portion andan inner Wall defining an axial opening, said dished base having a peripheral edge remote from said inner wall and inclined from said peripheral wall toward said inner wall, and a series of prongs integral with and extending from said peripheralk wall and pierced through said support, and the closure socket mem- Y ber having an open ended tubular resilient stud receiving barrel having a lip adjacent one of said ends inclined slightlyA inward around itsV periphery, and a connecting portion integral with the other end of. said stud receiving barrel and inclined away from the axis of said stud receiving barrel toward the plane of said lip and having a free'peripheral edge in the form of a prong engaging portion partly overlapping the terminal ends of said prongs, said stud receiving barrel and said support hav- 15 ing' a wall dening an opening, and said fastener soclg'et member, said stud guide cap element, and said inner Wall 'having coincident axes;

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS wenn 

1. A FASTENER SOCKET AND A SUPPORT, SAID SOCKET COMPRISING A ONE PIECE CAP ELEMENT AND A ONE PIECE SOCKET MEMBER SECURED TO OPPOSITE SIDES OF THE SUPPORT, SAID ONE PIECE CAP ELEMENT HAVING A DISHED PORTION, SAID DISHED PORTION HAVING A TERMINAL EDGE DIRECTED TOWARD THE AXIS OF SAID FASTENER AND SURROUNDING AN APERTURE THERETHROUGH AND HAVING A SERIES OF PRONGS INTEGRAL WITH ITS PERIPHERY AND EXTENDING THEREFROM THROUGH THE SUPPORT, SAID ONE PIECE SOCKET MEMBER HAVING A PRONG RECEIVING ANDHOLDING MEANS CO-OPERATING WITH SAID PRONGS AND SAID ONE PIECE SOCKET MEMBER HAVING A YIELDABLE STUD RECEIVING BARREL OPEN AT BOTH ENDS, SAID SUPPORT HAVING AN INNER WALL DEFINING AN APERTURE THERETHROUGH, AND SAID ONE PIECE CAP ELEMENT, SAID ONE PIECE SOCKET MEMBER, AND SAID INNER WALL OF SAID SUPPORT HAVING COINCIDENT AXES. 